Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel approached Mumbai Police over alleged threatening letters sent to him and his family linked to his 2024 Dawoodi Bohra succession dispute verdict. The complaint mentions repeated threats, including a letter sent to London.
Former Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel has approached the city police with a complaint regarding threatening letters reportedly sent to him and members of his family in relation to his 2024 verdict concerning the Dawoodi Bohra community succession dispute.
According to the complaint, Justice Patel and his family received multiple anonymous threat letters over the past ten months. The harassment allegedly intensified on June 5, when a highly threatening letter with a German postal mark was delivered to the London home of his daughter.
The letter reportedly warned that there would be a threat to their lives and claimed that a “contract” had been issued against the family. It also allegedly included a digital storage device, which has now been handed over to the London police.
Justice Patel said he lodged the complaint with the Gamdevi police in Mumbai on Sunday.
The alleged senders had reportedly demanded that the retired judge post a video on YouTube, apologising for his judgment and retracting the verdict regarding the succession and title of Syedna, the spiritual leader of the million-strong Dawoodi Bohra community. They claimed the ruling was delivered under “duress and coercion”. Similar threat letters were also allegedly sent to Patel’s Mumbai residence and were received by his wife.
Last week, the London police provided security cover to Justice Patel and his family following a development in the matter after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, during an official visit to the UK, raised the issue with Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran. The high commissioner then reportedly assured that the matter would be taken up with the relevant authorities to ensure adequate protection for the former judge and his family.
Earlier, the Bombay Bar Association condemned alleged threats, intimidation, and attacks targeting retired Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel and his family over the Dawoodi Bohra succession judgment. Calling it a direct assault on judicial independence and the rule of law, the Association demanded accountability and protection.
On April 24, 2024, a single bench of Justice Patel upheld the position of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra community, observing that he had a valid ‘nass’.
Justice Patel had dismissed a suit filed in 2014 by Khuzaima Qutbuddin after the death of his brother and then-Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd Dai, who passed away in January 2014 at the age of 102. Burhanuddin’s second son, Mufaddal Saifuddin, subsequently assumed the role of the 53rd Syedna.
Background: The Dawoodi Bohra Succession Dispute
The controversy traces its roots to one of the most significant religious succession battles in modern Indian legal history. The dispute arose following the death of Mohammad Burhanuddin, the 52nd Syedna and spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Following his demise, his son, Mufaddal Saifuddin, assumed leadership as the 53rd Syedna. However, his claim was challenged by Khuzaima Qutbuddin, the half-brother of the late Syedna, who contended that he had been validly designated as the successor.
In his judgment, Justice Patel noted that the plaintiffs failed to provide proof showing that Qutbuddin was conferred ‘nass’ by the 52nd Dai.
As competing claims emerged, the matter eventually reached the Bombay High Court in 2014. What followed was one of the longest and most closely watched civil trials in recent years, involving extensive documentary evidence, witness testimony, and examination of centuries-old religious traditions governing succession within the Dawoodi Bohra community.
The proceedings continued for nearly nine years before Justice Patel delivered his judgment on April 23, 2024. In a detailed ruling, he concluded that Mufaddal Saifuddin had successfully established his claim and was the lawful and rightful 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq and spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Despite the High Court’s ruling, the dispute has not reached its final conclusion. The judgment remains under challenge before a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, where the appeal is presently pending consideration.
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